Page:The New Testament in the original Greek - Introduction and Appendix (1882).pdf/193

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MIXED TEXTS
155

Catholic Epistles containing an appreciable amount of Pre-Syrian readings is much larger than in the Gospels or even in the Pauline Epistles, and the Alexandrian readings thus attested are greatly in excess of the Western, without taking into account 61 or 13. Fortunately however Western texts are not altogether ill represented, though only by scattered readings, chiefly in 137, 180, and 44, this last being a MS belonging to the Baroness Burdett-Coutts (iii 37), for the loan of a collation of which we have to thank Dr Scrivener's kindness; and to these MSS should be added 31 (the Leicester MS called 69 in the Gospels), which has many Non-Alexandrian Pre-Syrian readings of both kinds. The chief characteristics of the ancient elements in the cursive texts of St Paul are the extreme irregularity with which they appear in different parts of his epistles, and the small proportion of Western readings to others. Certain corrections in the margin of 67 (66 of the Acts and Catholic Epistles) stand apart by their inclusion of a relatively large number of very ancient readings, which have no other cursive attestation, some distinctively Western, others not so: these marginal readings must have been derived from a MS having a text nearly akin to that of the fragmentary MS called M2, though not from M2 itself. Besides 17, mentioned above, no other MSS of St Paul require special notice. Much ancient evidence is assuredly preserved in not a few cursive texts of the Apocalypse: but they have not as yet been traced with any clearness to their sources.


C. 213—219. Texts found in Versions

213. Analogous phenomena of mixture to those observed in most Greek MSS recur in the later Versions and states of versions: but the want of adequate knowledge of individual MSS of all versions except the Old Latin leaves much uncertain that will doubtless hereafter be cleared up. The African and European Latin, as has been already intimated, represent Western texts of different antiquity: but most of the aberrant readings found in single MSS are probably due to independent mixture with other Greek texts. In the Italian and Vulgate revisions mixture with Greek texts of various types played a large part: in the Italian Latin the Syrian contingent is especially conspicuous. We have already spoken of the